The Wake-Up Call
We have heard this term before -- The Wake-Up Call. I just got mine Thursday. I had a mild heart attack.
I feel very fortunate that The Man Upstairs saw fit to give me this warning and let me off the hook with minimal damage. Bad habits acquired over a long time period and lack of effort in decreasing my risks put me in that position. I guess that I, like others, had this faulty view that it could not happen to me. Well, it did.
As poker players, we know that the difference between winning and losing sometimes is due to chance -- the luck of the draw. This past Monday I took a 650-mile trip, taking me through mile after mile of beautiful rural southern Illinois. What if this problem surfaced then? Fortunately, I was in town on Thursday and sought help pretty quickly when it appeared that the problem might be more severe that I originally thought.
I went to the emergency room of a local hospital, where they ran a bunch of tests. The EKGs all came back as normal, but one test result on heart enzymes showed a little elevation and they thought it best to keep me overnight for observation. The succeeding enzyme tests during the night showed more elevated levels, and combined with my symptoms, led the cardiac specialist to tell me in the early morning that he was 100% convinced that I had a mild heart attack. He was ready to do a coronary angiogram, and off I went.
I will spare you the details, but will tell you that after a successful procedure yesterday morning I am home recovering today. I will have to invest some time in follow-up doctor appointments, take a bunch of pills, and change my eating and exercise habits, but these are things I can do and will do to put myself back to where I need to be health-wise.
If there was anything really positive to come out of all this, it was that my groin got looked at by more young, beautiful women than at any time since my 20s. Yeah -- the word incorrigible has been used more than once in describing me. I hope it will be used for many, many more healthy years to come.
I feel very fortunate that The Man Upstairs saw fit to give me this warning and let me off the hook with minimal damage. Bad habits acquired over a long time period and lack of effort in decreasing my risks put me in that position. I guess that I, like others, had this faulty view that it could not happen to me. Well, it did.
As poker players, we know that the difference between winning and losing sometimes is due to chance -- the luck of the draw. This past Monday I took a 650-mile trip, taking me through mile after mile of beautiful rural southern Illinois. What if this problem surfaced then? Fortunately, I was in town on Thursday and sought help pretty quickly when it appeared that the problem might be more severe that I originally thought.
I went to the emergency room of a local hospital, where they ran a bunch of tests. The EKGs all came back as normal, but one test result on heart enzymes showed a little elevation and they thought it best to keep me overnight for observation. The succeeding enzyme tests during the night showed more elevated levels, and combined with my symptoms, led the cardiac specialist to tell me in the early morning that he was 100% convinced that I had a mild heart attack. He was ready to do a coronary angiogram, and off I went.
I will spare you the details, but will tell you that after a successful procedure yesterday morning I am home recovering today. I will have to invest some time in follow-up doctor appointments, take a bunch of pills, and change my eating and exercise habits, but these are things I can do and will do to put myself back to where I need to be health-wise.
If there was anything really positive to come out of all this, it was that my groin got looked at by more young, beautiful women than at any time since my 20s. Yeah -- the word incorrigible has been used more than once in describing me. I hope it will be used for many, many more healthy years to come.
posted by lightning36 at 2:43 PM
18 Comments:
Holy shit, buddy! Yeah, the enzymes show up later, so good call there.
I'm glad it was small, happy that you're back home and resolved to play more softball.
And oh yeah, the nurse that prepped my particulars last year was memorable.
Heal with force!
Holy crap. I'm happy to see that you're on the mend, but jeez- take it easy, buddy.
Dude - I'm sorry to hear about this, but thank Buddha you're on the mend.
I'll give you a few more days to rest up and regather your strength and I'll give you a call to see how you're doing.
Stay cool, my brother.
Sounds like you were lucky to find out this way instead of, well, instead of an alternative. GL.
Holy crap! Glad you are OK! Here's to improved health and a ticker that keeps on ticking for a long, long time!!
Waking up is a good thing!
Thumbs up on that!
One of my poker friends (Lil' Annie Okie) also had a "mild" heart attack this week. Must be a "poker thing."
Here's to a quick and complete recovery my friend!
Glad to hear you are OK you old fart. Yea, that episode officially makes you an old fart.
See you at Vegas Half Marathon.
Good to see it was mild
Oh My God!! I can't tell you how much the first paragraph of this post scared the crap out of me. I need you around for a looooong time to torture the hell out of me.
Only you would get your package checked out by chicks when you're in the hospital for a HEART problem. :P
Hey Josie -- they do the angiogram by going through the femoral artery in your upper thigh.
I held my tongue so many times --
"First we have to shave you in that area..."
and later, making sure that the entry point doesn't have any problems after the procedure ...
as they are poking the spot "Oh this is good -- it is still nice and soft..."
Light, glad to hear you're doing ok. Wow that is some harsh news but I'm glad you were local and had the sense to get it checked out immediately. I'm usually more hard headed than that. Take care my friend and torture all the young things you can, who knows when you'll get another chance to do that. It sure makes me re-examine my own bad habits buddy.
take care of yourself.. I need someone to abuse.
I go offline for one weekend and stuff like this happens...you are one lucky dude.
Take care of yourself, and you'll be around a long long time! Glad to see you took a positive approach to the situation! I would have done the same!
Take care of yourself, and good to see the positive attitude.
Damn dude, glad you made it out ok. GL with your new exercise regimen.
Hope you're feeling better...
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